Letter from the Secretary

From the Secretary

Dear Members

Many thanks for such a warm welcome and the long wait for me to get here. It has been a double dream come true… the opportunity to move back to Kenya and then to become your new Secretary. My short story: I was born in Jamaica of British parents. My father worked overseas for Citibank for 30 years. We lived in Colombia, Ecuador, Haiti, (back to) Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago. I went to boarding school in Hertfordshire, England, at Berkhamsted School. I moved to the US in 1983 and attended the University of Houston in Texas. We moved to San Francisco in 1984 where I attended the University of California, Berkeley. I remember a squash tournament between the UK and the West Indies in the 70’s at the Liguanea Club in Kingston, Jamaica. The top player from the UK was a dentist named Peter Verro. He was a James Bond type character who made an impression on me as a ten-yearold and inspired me to want to become a good squash player and a dentist! My ‘A’ levels at Berkhamsted were all sciences with Dentistry in mind. I continued on this path in Houston and then Berkeley. In my last year I had a conversation with my father about not wanting to be a dentist anymore - I had now set my heart on becoming an actor. He supportively said, “You can do anything you want, but get your degree first!” After graduation in 1987 it was off to the Big Apple to pursue my dream… a starving actor has to eat… so I got a job as a breakfast waiter at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel on Central Park South.

Eventually I moved back to California (opened the Ritz-Carlton, San Francisco) and then to Hong Kong to open the Ritz-Carlton there. I was more successful with acting in HK, with a guest appearance on the British television series ‘Soldier, Soldier’. Then came Dubbing - I did voice-overs for Chinese Karate films until one day in 1992 I realised I needed to get back to reality. So back to the US to pursue a career in hospitality… I ended up in Florida at the Ritz-Carlton, Palm Beach. From there I went on to the Boca Raton Resort & Club, then the Deer Creek Country Club and Delano Hotel (Miami Beach). I met my wife, Lilly, at the Boca Pointe Athletic Club where I was playing squash (full circle) My children, Amanda and James, were born in Boca Raton. Then it was off to Mexico City, followed by London, NYC, and back to London. Then came a pivotal opportunity in our lives… I was invited to Kenya on holiday by MCC Member Mark Somen in 2012… Long story short, he convinced me to take over from him at the Tribe Hotel. So I quit my job in London and moved the family to Nairobi. In 2015 I moved to The Bahamas (Albany Resort and Club)… and then back to Kenya in 2020 to manage the Mövenpick Hotel in Westlands – Karibu Nyumbani! I’m looking forward to taking up squash again and also to helping the Chairman revive the MCC Drama scene. Our Team pledge (aren’t our employees the Greatest!) is -

‘To bring MCC back to you Members - both young and older.

To encourage more Member participation by raising the bar on quality of service (hospitality) and product, through creativity, open discussion and planning.

To reintroduce more Club events and activities and to develop and introduce new sports, like padel.

To make our Muthaiga the best Social Members’ Club in the world.’ We have so many exciting projects to push through and uplift experiences for all Members and I am looking forward to the challenge. Best wishes,

Michael Flint MCC Secretary